No Way But Down
by AM78
Summary: In this alternate version of Matt and Jessica's ending, the pair are stranded on the mountain side and forced to make a desperate gamble to survive.


**This is an alternate ending for Jess and Matt, one I would have preferred for the game. In this version, Matt and Jess have survived the mines, but have came out at a point far from below and away from the lodge or any other means of aid.**

* * *

Matt and Jess breathed heavy sighs of relief as they heard the monster, the...thing that had been pursuing them scurry away into the darkness of the mines.

"Was that it?" Asked Matt. "Was that what dragged you down here?"

Jess nodded meekly. "Yeah. If Mike hadn't chased me down, it probably would have ripped my head off. Now I think we'd better get back to the others before it comes out here to finish the job."

Matt couldn't have agreed more, but as the terror of their brush with death faded, suddenly the situation became clear. There was no going back. Everything they had faced up to now was only the beginning. The hardest challenge of their lives lay ahead.

"Jess, I'm sorry to have to say this, but we're not going back. Take a look around. What do you see?"

Jessica paused for a moment to wipe the blood and tears out of her eyes, but found nothing of note. Just trees, snow, and mountains as far as she could look. Not even the cable car that had brought them to the lodge was within view.

"Nothing."

"Exactly," Matt grimly acknowledge. "We're stranded on the mountain side without the slightest clue of where we are. Unless you've got some heavy duty mountain climbing gear under that jacket of yours, we sure as hell aren't getting back to the top, and going back into that mine to try and find a way is bit too suicidal for my taste. Not with that thing in there hunting us. "

Every point Matt made was hitting Jessica like a sledgehammer, but she found there was no way to dispute any of them. Trying to climb back up to the lodge without equipment was totally out of the question, especially in her condition. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying there is only one way for us at this point. That's down."

Jess could barely comprehend what he was saying. "Are you out of your fucking mind?! You want to just walk out of here? We've got no food, no idea where we are, and no idea of how far we have to go! It could take weeks to get out of the range! And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in the best shape for a long distance hike!"

"I didn't say I was thrilled with out chances," Matt pointed out. "But as far as I can tell, it's the best chance we've got."

Jess' protests were almost tearful by now. The thought of trying to hike through the mountains in her battered state was practically unbearable. "No...there has to be another way. I don't want to vanish into the mountains like Hannah and Beth. We have to find our way back to Josh and-"

"Josh is dead, Jess!" Matt suddenly burst out. He was getting a bit tired of having to dish out so much bad news, but figured this might be the only way to convince her.

"What?"

"Josh is dead," Matt repeated, calmly this time. "And so is Emily, and everyone else might be too for all I fucking know."

Jessica could only stare blankly for a few seconds as the news sank in. "When...how?"

"For Josh, I'm not sure. Chris and Ash told me some maniac killed him with a saw blade. I didn't see it myself, but considering the condition they were in when they told me, and all we've been through, I think it's a pretty safe bet to take their word for it. That's why I went to the tower. Emily and I were going to use the radio up there to call for help. We managed to get a transmission out, but then the whole damn structure collapsed."

Matt paused for a moment as the terrible memories came back, how he had been so close to pulling Emily up, only to watch her slip away. "I...I couldn't save her, Jess. She fell into the abyss. I'd like to think there's some chance she managed to survive, but there's no point in kidding myself."

Jessica just stood in stunned silence while Matt explained what he had been through. Emily's death hit her especially hard, as she hated to think her last conversation with her had been a heated argument that had nearly come to blows. Then something occurred her. "Wait, you said you got a transmission out. Doesn't that mean help is on the way? We should just wait here until the rangers find us!"

"You mean like how they found Beth and Hannah?" Matt asked sarcastically. "No one knows where we are, Jess. There are no landmarks to make this area particularly worthy of a search. There are trees all around us and we don't have any signalling equipment. A helicopter could fly right over without spotting us even if we waved our arms and shouted until we're blue in the face."

Left out of this explanation was that fact that only hours before, Matt did have a flare gun, a flare gun he had used to save himself from the black-skinned beast in the mines. He certainly wasn't regretting his decision, but he still had to accept the irony that by saving himself at the time, he might have only condemned to himself to a far slower and more agonizing fate as a result.

"But we don't know that for sure." Jess pointed out. "A search team might start with the higher points of the mountain first. Going down might make them less likely to find us."

Matt signed and looked Jess straight in the eye. "You're right Jess. I don't know. I don't know how far we're going to have to go. I don't know if we'll make it. I don't fucking know how I managed to get into this nightmare. All I know is we've got about 10 hours of daylight ahead, and I intend to use it to put as much distance between myself and that beast in the mine as possible. I'm about to head out on the most agonizing hardship I've ever faced, and I would really prefer not to have to face it alone."

 _"As if there is any chance of that."_ Jess thought to herself. The thought of waiting or going back into the mines alone was simply unacceptable. "Well then lets get moving fearless leader, our quest awaits," she replied jokingly.

* * *

 _3 hours later_

Matt and Jess continued to trudge through the snow, desperately trying to find a way out of the mountain range. Thankfully the snowfall and swirling winds had died down, but this hardly made their prospects any more promising.

"Say Matt," Jessica suddenly spoke up, trying to liven the mood. "In case we don't make it, I just want you to know, I'm sorry for getting Emily all riled up back at the cabin...and for nearly denting your skull with the shovel."

"Don't mention it," Matt replied. "I gotta say though, you got a nice right hand swing. That kind of thing might come in handy if we're going to survive out here."

"Sure, if we happen to find a heavy blunt object and get a deer to stand still right next us for about 10 seconds, our next meal is just around the corner."

"Fair enough, but if all else fails, I'm calling dibs on your leg." Both of them burst out laughing at this final remark, letting their fear exhaustion subside, if only for a moment. It was just the thing they needed at the time.

Matt paused for a moment to take a look at his surroundings. The ground here was more open, making them easier to spot for a passing helicopter. But he still couldn't find any familiar landmarks to get his bearings. So there was still clear direction for him, only down.

 _"Just gotta keep going. This mountain ain't beat us yet."_

The End

* * *

 **So that's how I would have preferred their ending went. Because they had such a small role in the main story, it would have been nice to see them get their own extra adventure at the end. Also I like how this would have been a lot more dark, leaving the viewer uncertain of their ultimate fate. Did they make it? Do they die? Does one of them die and the other resort to eating their corpse to stay alive, thus starting the Wendigo cycle all over again? All sorts of possibilities.**

 **All reviews are welcome. Let me know what you think.**


End file.
